Pennsylvania Game News - December 2022 - 42

wild birds.
* Wash hands with soap and water or
an alcohol-based hand sanitizer immediately
after handling wild birds.
* Dress harvests in the field.
* Change clothing as needed, especially
if visibly soiled or if any wild birds
made contact with clothing.
* Change clothing, including footwear,
before coming in contact with any pet
birds or domestic poultry.
* Wash all equipment, tools, and
work surfaces with soap and water, then
disinfect with a 10% household bleach
solution. Allow to air dry or rinse after
10 minutes of contact time.
HPAI can infect humans, though just
one human HPAI case has been reported
in the United States during this outbreak.
Since January 2022, the Game Commission,
working jointly with the Wildlife
Futures Program and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, has sampled
and tested nearly 1,000 wild birds collected
from almost every county in the
Commonwealth. HPAI had been detected
in 47 wild birds, and the disease was
presumed to be spread statewide.
HPAI, which is particularly contagious
and lethal to domestic poultry,
caused major impacts to agriculture
in Pennsylvania, too. Statewide, the
disease has infected 17 commercial
poultry flocks and one backyard flock,
leading to the culling of more than 4.2
million birds.
Any sick or dead domestic birds
should be reported to the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture at 717-7722852.
Sick or dead wild birds should
be reported to the Game Commission
at 1-833-PGC-WILD or online using
the Wildlife Health Survey tool at
www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS.
RHD results in special regulations
The recent detection of Rabbit Hemorrhagic
Disease (RHD) in two captive rabbits in
Fayette County has resulted in a small Disease
Management Area (DMA), within which special
regulations pertaining to wild rabbits apply.
Wild rabbits or hares may not be captured,
transported, rehabilitated or released within
the RHD-DMA in southwestern Pennsylvania,
which extends about 5 miles in each direction
from the site in Uniontown where RHD was
detected. The feeding of wild rabbits also is
prohibited within the RHD-DMA.
Hunters harvesting rabbits within the DMA
need to prepare them for consumption before
removing them from the DMA. Only the meat,
with or without bone, may be removed from
the DMA. The removal of all other rabbit parts
is prohibited.
The Game Commission's establishment
of the RHD-DMA follows the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture's detection of Rabbit
Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 (RHDV2) in two
captive rabbits in a Fayette County facility.
RHDV2 is a highly pathogenic and contagious
42
virus affecting hares, rabbits and closely related
species. It has caused mass die-offs in wild hare
and rabbit populations elsewhere, but had not
previously been detected in Pennsylvania. The
RHD-DMA serves to protect Pennsylvania's
wild rabbits from the introduction and spread
of RHDV2.
Details on the DMA boundary can be found
at www.pgc.pa.gov.
Meanwhile, a previous order remains
in place, prohibiting the importation into
Pennsylvania of any wild lagomorph - a group
that includes rabbits, hares and pikas - or any of
their parts or products from any state, province,
territory or country where RHDV2 has been
detected within the previous 12 months.
All Pennsylvanians are asked to help monitor
for RHDV2 reporting any hare/rabbit mortality
events - defined as finding two or more dead
hares/rabbits at the same location and at the
same time with an unknown cause of death - by
calling 1-833-PGC-WILD or by using the online
Wildlife Health Survey reporting tool at https://
www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS.
http://www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS http://www.pgc.pa.gov https://www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS https://www.pgcapps.pa.gov/WHS
Pennsylvania Game News - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - December 2022
